Elevator car position indicator driving mechanism



E. L. DUNN 2,267,642 ELEVATOR CAR POSITION INDICATOR DRIVING MECHANISM Dec. 23, 1941.

3 Sheets-Sheet l FIGZ (Eek/1M4, LuTU w/ Filed Dec. 18, 1940 M =unununnnununnnn INVENTOR ATTORNEY Dec. 23, 1941.

ELEVATOR CAR E. L. DUNN 2,267,642

POSITION INDICATOR DRIVING MECHANISM Filed Dec. 18, 1940 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 C I line 5 40 INVENTOR ATTORNEY E. L. DUNN Dec. 23, 1941.

ELEVATOR CAR PO SITION INDICATOR DRIVING MECHANISM Filed bee. 18', 1940 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 FIGIO v HQIZ 5 g "I" IBIVENTOR Y E N m U A Patented Dec. 23, 1941 ELEVATOR'CAR POSITION INDICATOR DRIVING MECHANISM Edward Lee Dunn, Livingston, N. J-, assignor to Otis Elevator Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New Jersey ApplicationDecember 18', 1940, Serial No. 370,673

3 Claims.

The invention relates to driving mechanism for elevator car position indicators, especially indicators of the type which are arranged at the floors and mechanically rotated in accordance with movement of the car to indicate the position of the car in the hatchway.

One form of mechanically rotated position indicator is the small dial type which, in installations having hall push buttons at the floors, may be arranged in the push button fixture. The invention is especially applicable to position indicators of this character and will be described as applied thereto although it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to this form of indicator.

It is highly desirable in installations having mechanically rotated position indicators at the floors to provide each of the indicators with reset mechanism operable at the terminal floors. This minimizes the possibility of any of the indicators getting considerably out of step with the car.

The object of the invention is to provide driving mechanism for mechanically rotated position indicators which is of simple construction, reliable in operatic-n and which may be readily adjusted for installations of different distances between terminal floors.

In the arrangement which will be described, the indicators are actuated by movement of the crosshead of mechanism such as a fioor controller actuated by car movement. In such mechanism, the movement of the crosshead corresponds with the movement of the elevator car but the speed of the crosshead is considerably less than the car speed. Thus a considerable speed reduction is obtained for actuating the indicators. The indicator dials are driven by a wire connected for actuation by movement of the crosshead and extending down the hatchway. This wire is wrapped around driving sheaves for the indicators one after the other from the top floor to the bottom floor, and on the lower end is provided With a tensioning weight. Each dial is provided with a plurality of characters such as numerals corresponding to the floors of the installation. In order to render the reset mechaover the portion of the dial corresponding to the car travel. In certain 11181311088585 where there are more than a certain number of floors, the characters for certain floors may be omitted.

The invention involves connecting the driving wire for the indicators for actuation by the crosshead through mechanism which is readily adjustable to impart the same amount of vertical movement to the wire on terminal to terminal runs for installations of varying numbers of floors. In carrying out the invention according to the preferred arrangement, an upwardly extending lever is pivotally mounted at its lower end on the framework of mechanism actuated in accordance with car movement at one end thereof. The upper end of this lever is connected by wire to the crosshead so as to be swung about its pivot by crosshead movement and in a direction dependent on the direction of crosshead movement. The driving wire for the indicator sheaves is adjustably connected to the lever intermediate the ends thereof, the exact position being determined by the distance from the bottom floor to the top floor of the installation. Inasmuch as the same amount of rotative movement of the indicator dials is to be effected, regardless of the number of floors, the connection of the driving wire to the lever is made at a point which effects this amount of movement with the swing of the leverobtained by the crosshead movement in making a terminal to terminal run. Thus, in an installation of a few floors for example, this connection would be efiected nearer the top of the leverthan in an installation of a larger number of floors. To maintain the swing of the lever commensurate with the distance between the sides of the framework of the mechanism actuated in accordance with car movement in case of a considerable number of floors, the relative swing of the lever with respect to crosshead movement may be reduced as by connecting the wire from the crosshead to a fixed point and passing it around a pulley carried by the upper end of the lever.

nism of each indicator effective at the terminal sothat there is" equal spacing between characters side of the hat'chwaydoors;

floor controller crosshead for the arrangement shown in Figure 2;

Figure '7 is an enlarged view in section taken along the line 'l--'I of Figure 3;

Figure 8 is a detail in section taken along the line 8-8 of Figure 3;

Figure 9 is an enlarged detail along the line 9-9 of Figure 4;

Figure 10 is a fragmentary end View of the.

floor controller illustrating a 1:2 drive for the actuating lever;

Figure 11 is a front view of a push button fixture embodying a position indicator;

Figure 12 is a side view of the same with parts in section; and

Figure 13 is a top view of the same.

Referring first to Figure 1, the elevator car .20 is suspended by hoisting ropes 2| which extend upwardly from the car around the hoisting sheave 22 and downwardly to the counterweight 23. A geared machine is illustrated in which the hoisting sheave is driven by the hoisting motor 24 through a worm and worm gear reduction 25. 26 is the electromagnetic brake for holding the car at rest.

An installation is illustrated in which push buttons are provided at the various floors and which act through a floor controller 21 to con trol the operation of the car. The floor controller is illustrated as driven from the car by sprocket chain 28 which passes from the car upwardly to and over a sprocket wheel 30 secured to the floor controller drive shaft SI and from there over the hoisting sheave in a special groove 32 provided thereon and down to a tensioning weight 33 in the counterweight frame. The floor controller framework 34 is illustrated as straddling the hoisting motor. This framework comprises a pair of side frames 35 and 35 joined at the top by top plate 31. Feet it are secured to the bottoms of the side frames for mounting on the floor controller, as shown in Figures 3 and 4.

ance with car movement and at a reduced ratio with respect thereto.

Details of one of the position indicators actuated by movement of the crosshead are illustrated in Figures 11, 12 and 13. The indicator is shown as arranged within a push button fixture. This fixture comprises a face plate 55 for both an up push button 58 and a down push button 60. These push buttons are illustrated as of the mushroom type, each being provided with a stem 6| which extends through an aperture 52 in the face plate. The push button operates a knob 33 on the end of a shank 64 through a spring 65 arranged within the stem. This knob engages a contacting knob 63 on movable contact 6? of the push button contacts. The movable contact is 7 biased by a spring I0 into engagement with a Referring now also to Figures 3 and 4, the.

.fioor controller crosshead M is in the form of a nut and is driven by a screw 42 on a horizontal shaft 43. This shaft is supported at its ends in bearings arranged in the side frames 35 and 36. A frame 45 is carried by the crosshead to support brushes (not shown) for engaging stationary contacts (also not shown) in the control system. The crosshead frame is provided with guides 45 and 86 which extend into a trough 4'! secured to top plate 3'! to prevent rotation of the crosshead upon rotative movement of shaft 43. Shaft 43 is driven from the floor controller drive shaft 3| by a sprocket chain 48. The drive shaft is supported in bearings, one in side frame 35 and the other in a frame 50 which is supported by cross members 38 for the purpose of mounting mechanism (not shown) utilized in the control system. Another sprocket wheel 5I is secured to shaft 3| for driving chain 43. This chainextends upwardly around a sprocket 52 secured to shaft 43. Thus, upon movement of the elevator car, shaft 43 is rotated to move the crosshead in accordstop II. Upon pressure of the push button the movable contact is pushed to the right to engage the stationary contact 12. The stop ll, stationary contact 12 and the supporting bracket I3 for the movable contact are mounted on an insulating base 14 within and secured to a casing 95. The fixture has two casings I5 and T6, the outer casing 15 being secured as by welding to the inner casing 15. A pocket 11 is formed in the hatchway wall into which the outer casing extends. A flange I8 is formed on the inner casing which is secured as by screws (not shown) to the hatchway wall in the manner of an electric outlet box. The face plate 55 is secured to the flange as by screws 80.

Above the push buttons the face plate is provided with an aperture 8| to receive a crystal 82. This crystal is mounted in a bezel 83 which is clamped to the face plate around the aperture. The crystal is provided with an arrow 84 preferably formed centrally thereof on the inner surface as by vitreous enamel fused to the glass. This arrow points upwardly to indicate on a dial 85 the number or character for the floor at which the car is positioned. The dial is immediately behind the crystal and is driven by an elongated shaft 86. This shaft is supported near the dial by a bearing 81 in an angle member 03 secured as by weldingto inner casing l5. At its other end the shaft is supported by a bearing 30 in a sleeve 9| extending from the casing 92 for the driving sheave 33. The sleeve 9| extends through an aperture 94 in the outer casing 15. The end of the sleeve extends well into the casing and is supported there by a clamp 95 secured to the casing. An aperture is provided in inner casing 15 through which the shaft extends.

The driving of dial 85 by shaft 86 is effected through a clutch device. A leather disc I00 is secured to the dial end of the shaft and engages plate I 0| secured to the back of the dial. A spring I02 within a pocket I03 formed in the dial maintains the leather disc in frictional engagement with the plate. A, stop I04 is secured to plate I M and a stop plate I05 is secured to bracket 88. The stop I04 engages one edge of plate I05 upon full movement of the dial in one direction and the opposite edge of the plate upon full movement of the dial in the other direction. The width of the plate is such as to limit the movement of the dial to an arc of substantially 300.

Assuming for convenience that all fioors are represented by numerals, the numeral for the lower terminal floor is positioned on the dial to be immediately above the pointer when the stop is engaging the left hand edge of plate I 05 as upper terminal floor is positione'd on the dial to be immediately above the pointer when the stop is engaging the right hand'edge of plate I05, thus placin these numbers 300 apart. The numerals for the other fioors are so positioned on the dial that considering the 300 space the spacing between numerals is equal for any given number of floors, regardless of the number of floors, assuming substantially equal floor heights. It is preferred to space the numerals so that the angle between adjacent ones is not less than a certain minimum amount. For-example, on a 1%," dial, it is found that for the preferred size numerals anangle between numerals of less than 37 is undesirable. An angle of 37 /2 permits nine numerals tobe placed on the dial. In case of an installation of 'less than nine floors, the angle would be increased accordingly, whereas for installations of more than ninefloors some of the numerals, as for example every other one, might be omitted, although if desired more numerals might be placed on the dial by using smaller numerals, in which event the angle between numerals would be decreased. Also, the dials might be made larger to accommodate more numerals of the desired size.

The drive sheave 93 for the dial is secured to the inner end of drive shaft 86 by a set screw I06. A cover I57 is provided for the drive sheave casing, this cover being secured by screws extending into threaded apertures in brackets I 08 welded to the casing. The casing is formed with openings IIIl to provide an entrance and exit for the driving wire III, these openings being on the side of the casing away from the hatchway door opening IIZ, thereby minimizing the possibility of tampering with the indicator. This is indicated schematically in Figure 1 for an arrangement in which the indicators are arranged on the right hand side of the hatchway doors and in Figure 2 in which the indicators are arranged on the left hand side of the hatchway doors. The drive wire extends down the hatchway and is wrapped around the indicator driving sheaves in series relation, one after the other. A full wrap is taken around each sheave. This driving wire may be of cotton center galvanized aircraft cord and to maintain the desired traction for actuating the indicators, a weight II5, such as a sash weight, is connected to the lower end of the wire.

Referring now to Figures 1, 3, 4 and 5, the drive wire extends upwardly from the position indicator driving sheave for the uppermost floor to an idler pulley I I6. From this pulley the Wire extends to a second idler pulley 1, these pulleys being utilized to provide the proper lead to the floor controller. From pulley I I! the wire extends upwardly to a sheave I20 mounted on an adjustable cross bar I2I extending between uprights I22 and I 23 of the side frame 36 of the fioorcontroller. The end of the wire is connected as by an adjustable clamp I24 to a lever I25 pivotally mounted at its lower end I26 on the foot 40 for side frame 36. A wire I3I is connected to the upper end of lever I26 through a link I32. This. wire also may be cotton center galvanized aircraft cord. This wire extends over an idler sheave I33 mounted on upright I23 from where it extends upwardly to another idler sheave I34 arranged at right angles to sheave I33 and in alignment with the direction of the wire from sheave I33 to sheave I34. From sheave I34 the 'wire extends over to the crosshead to which it isconnected by an eyelet I35. Thus, "during downward car travel,-movement of the crosshead to the right as viewed in Figure 4 takes up on wire I3I to pull lever I25 clockwise about its pivot as viewed in Figure 3. This takes up on the wire I II to move the position indicator dials counterclockwise. Conversely, during up car travel, movementof the crosshead to the left as viewed in Figure 4 pays out-wire I3I. A-s thistakes place, lever I25 is pulled counterclockwise about its pivot as viewed in Figure 3 by the tensioning weight at the end of wire 'I II to move the position indicator dials clockwise.

Where the drive wire III for 'the indicators is on the left hand side of the doors as illustrated in Figure 2, wire I 3| is passed first around an idler sheave II'8 before being connected to the crosshead, this sheave being mounted on a bracket II9 secured to the side frame 35 for the floor controller, as shown in Figures 4, 5 and 6. With this arrangement, movement of the crosshead imparts movement to lever 25 which is opposite to that obtained with the arrangement of Figure 1. Thus with the wrap extending counterclockwise around the drive sheave for the dials as viewed in Figure 2, the dials are operated in the same direction as in the arrangement of Figure 1. With this arrangement, the extent of movement of lever I25 about its pivot depends upon the amount of movement of the crosshead, which in turn depends upon the amount of travel of the car inmaking a terminal to terminal run. Thus in an installation of a few floors, for example, the amount of swing of the lever on a terminal to terminal run would be small, whereas in a larger number of floors the lever might be swung to its full extent, as indicated in Figure 3.

To determine the proper length for wire I3I, the car is positioned at about the midpoint of its terminal to terminal run, lever I25 is positioned vertically, and the wire is fastened to the crosshead. This connection, as shown in Figure 9, is effected by pulling the wire taut in the eyelet I35 and clamping the eyelet to the crosshead. This connection is effected by a bolt I36 extending through lug I31 on the crosshead, the eyelet being clamped between nuts I38 and I40 on the bolt. Inasmuch as the position indicator dials have a fixed amount of rotative movement, the amount of movement of wire III is fixed and is the same for a terminal to terminal run regardless of the extent of crosshead movement in makingsuch a run. To obtain this fixed amount of movement of wire III, it is connected to lever I25 at a point determined by the amount of swing of the lever for a terminal to terminal operation. For an installation of a small number of fioors in which the arc of movement of the lever for a terminal to terminal run is small, the connection of wire III to lever I25 would be near the upper end of the lever, the connection being effected at increasingly lower points on the lever for installations of increasing numbers of fioors.

As shown in Figure 8, the clamp I24, by means of which wire II I is adjustably connected to lever I25, comprises a pair of plates I30, one on each side of the lever. Bolts I39 are provided for clamping the plates onto the lever. The wire II I is connected to the clamping plates by an eyelet MI and link I42. In making the connection of wire III to the lever, the positions of the lever for the terminal positions of the car are marked and a point on the lever is determined by measurement such that the distance between that point on' 'the lever in the extreme positions ofthe lever is equal to the amount of vertical movement of the wire desired. The clamp I24 is then clamped to the lever at this point. When setting the position of the clamp, the cross bar l2l is moved along with the clamp so as to position the top of sheave I just below the clamp. In this way, the chord for the arc of movement of the point of connection for a terminal to terminal run is made substantially equal to the vertical movement of wire III. As shown in Figure 7, cross bar IZI is clamped in adjusted position to uprights I22 and I23 by an additional cross bar I46 and bolts I41. An additional cross bar I48, which is spaced from across bar IZI by collars I50 arranged on bolts I41, acts in conjunction with cross bar I2I as a guide for lever I25. When the setting of clamp I24 and cross bar I2I has been effected, wire III is connected to the clamp, pulled taut and upwardly enough so that the tensioning weight is suspended when the car is at the upper terminal and the eyelet clamped to the link I42 by bolt I43. A full round trip of the car is then made which automatically sets the position indicator dials in their proper positions.

Where the amount of movement ofthe crosshead is such as would result in greater swing of the top end of lever I25 than is permitted by the position of sheave I33, it is preferred to reduce the amount of the swing of lever I25 by a 2:1 connection rather than to obtain this swing by setting lever I25 to the left of vertical for the mid-position of the car, thus causing the top end of the lever to swing well beyond upright I22. This may be effected as shown in Figure 10 by providing a sheave I54 on the upper end of the lever and connecting the end of wire I3I to upright I23 and passing it around sheave I54 before passing the wire around sheave I33. Such condition might exist in an installation of a large number of floors.

It is preferred to bias lever I25 for counterclockwise movement as viewed in Figure 3, as by a spring I5I, to obviate any slack in wire I3I as it is being paid out as where movement of wire I II is stopped, thereby preventing wire I3I making undesirable electrical connections in the circuits.

Although the invention has been described with reference to small dial indicators arranged within a double push button fixture, it is to be understood that it is equally applicable to arrangements in which the indicator is arranged in a single button fixture, as in the push button fixtures for the terminal floors in Figures 1 and 2,

and arrangements in which the indicator is arranged within a special fixture without any push button. Also, the invention is applicable to other types of mechanically rotated position indicators, although especially applicable to the small dial type, inasmuch as the construction of such indicator facilitates the employment of a reset device on the indicator itself.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and many apparently widely difierent embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

What is claimed is:

1. In an elevator system in which at each of a plurality of floors served by the elevator car there is a rotatable car position indicator, said indicator being limited to a certain amount of rotative movement and having an actuating sheave, said indicators being actuated by flexible means which is wrapped around said indicator actuating sheaves one after the other from top to bottom, and in which mechanism is provided having a travelling member which is actuated in accordance with car movement and at a reduced ratio with respect thereto, an upwardly extending lever, the lower end of which is mounted on a stationary pivot, flexible means connecting the upper end of said lever to said travelling member to swingv said lever in accordance with car movement, and means for adjustably connecting the upper end of said first named flexible means to said lever at a point on said lever to cause an amount of movement of said first named flexible means to move each indicator from one limit to the other upon a terminal to terminal run of the car.

2!. In an elevator system in which at each of a plurality of floors served by the elevator car there is a car position indicator having a rotatable indicating dial, said dial being limited to a certain amount of rotative movement and being provided with means for automatically resetting the dial at its limits of movement, each indicator having an actuating sheave, said indicators being actuated by flexible means which is wrapped around said indicator actuating sheaves one after the other from top to bottom, means being provided on the lower end of said flexible means for maintaining it taut, and in which mechanism is provided having a travelling member which is actuated in accordance with car movement and at a reduced ratio with respect thereto, an upwardly extending lever mounted at its lower end on a stationary pivot secured to said mechanism, flexible means connecting the upper end of said lever to said travelling member to' swing said lever in accordance with car movement, and means for adjustably connecting the upper end of said first named flexible means to said lever at a point on said lever to cause an amount of movement of said first named flexible means'to move each dial from one limit to the other upon a terminal to terminal run of the car, said last named means comprising adjustable means for causing the chord of the arc of movement of the point of connection of said first named flexible means to said lever on a terminal to terminal run substantially to equal said amount of movement of said first named flexible means.

3. In an elevator system in which at each of a plurality of floors served by the elevator car there is a position indicator having a rotatable dial with characters indicative of said floors thereon in spaced relationship and means for indicating said characters to indicate the position of the car in the hatchway, said indicator being provided with stopping means to limit the amount of rotative movement of said dial in each direction and said dial being actuated from a sheave through a clutch device to provide means in conjunction with said stopping means for automatically resetting the dial, said indicators being actuated by a wire which extends vertically down the hatchway and which is wrapped around said indicator actuating sheaves one after the other from top to bottom, the lower end of said wire being provided with a tensioning weight, and in which mechanism is provided having framework and a travelling crosshead which is actuated in accordance with car movement and at a reduced ratio with respect thereto, an upwardly extending lever, the lower end of which is pivotally mounted on said framework, a wire connecting the upper end of said lever to said crosshead to swing said lever in accordance with car movements and means for connecting the upper end of said first named wire to said lever at a point intermediate the ends of said lever to cause an amount of movement of said first named wire to move each dial from one limit to the other upon a terminal to terminal run of the car, regardless of the length of such run, said last named means including a clamp for adjustably connecting said upper end of said first named wire to said lever and a sheave adjustably mounted on said framework over which said first named wire extends in reaching said lever, said sheave being adjusted along with said clamp to cause the chord of the arc of movement of the point of connection of said first named wire to said lever on a terminal to terminal run substantially to equal said amount of movement of the Wire,

EDWARD LEE DUNN. 

